Article heating and delivery apparatus



Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., ETAL 2,493,735

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed 001;. 11 194'! 16 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TORS. Harold Q. Skricklcmd, Jr.

Ben} amin R. Pun/in Donald W. Qiddzll BY Y Mme. HQHL ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR, ETAL 2,493,735

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed oct. 11, 1947 l6 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTORS *flarold =9. Strickland}. Be (1min R. Pufv'm Donald W. Ridden 'MMU. ROww-Q ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR, EI'AL ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS 16 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 11, 1947 1 meta 2 as m.

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roww I l v 3w 2. a o 5 cm 0. ,5? @Q O d mm? 5 a m u WhD [S .R .R. Qm dmd oud rm n Q80 Y B M L i iToRNEY Jan- 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR, ETAL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS l6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 11, 1947 Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., EI'AL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11. 1947 16 Shets-Sheet 5 no $16.6 I65 41 IN V ENTORS Harold Q. Strickland. It".

Benjamin Rpuw'm Donald W. Ridden.

W A W Y ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., E'AL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed 001;. 11, 1947 16 Sheets-Sheet a I NV EN TORS Harold S Strickland) Benjamin Rfilrrvin. Donald W. Ridden.

MMQETW Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., EIAL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1947 16 Sheets-Sheet 1 N V EN TORS Harold Q. Strickland, Jr

Benj amin R. Purvlm BY Doznald W. Ruidell. I Wm A TORNE 16 Sheets-Sheet 8 S INVENTORS Harold Q. Strickland, Jr.

Benjamin R. Pun/in BY Donald W. Ridden.

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ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., ETAL ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1947 Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., ETAL A 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed on. 11, 1947 16 Sheets-Sheet 9 011* will @mgjimmijg INVENTORS Harold 41. StricklandJr Be 0min R. Pun/in BY Donald W Riddell R W-Lu ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR, EI'AL 2,493,735

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS 16 Sheets-$heet 10 Filed Oct. 11, 1947 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., ETAL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Jan. 10, 1950 16 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed Oct. 11, 1947 I N V EN TORS Harold A Sf rickkmdj A CAM) ATTORNEY Benjamin R. Puruim BY Donald W Ridden.

Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR, EI'AL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1947 16 Sheets-Sheet l2 INVENTORS Harold Q. StrtcklandJr.

0 Wu M mw MWAW ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., El'AL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1947 16 She'ets-Sheet 13 iili'lllllli m mmm / INVENTORS Harold Q StrlddandJr Benjamin R. Purvim Donald W. R'Lddel A TTORNE Y Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR, EI'AL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS l6 Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed Oct. 11. 1947 INVENIORS Harold Q. Siflckland, Tr. Benjamin Rpm Vin Donald W. Ridden. mm A a-v4, ATTORNEY lu W" Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR., ETAL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1947 16 Sheets-Sheet l5 OEbqmI m mwwm m m m Jan. 10, 1950 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR, EI'AL 2,493,785

ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1947 16 Sheets-Sheet l6 STO D INVENTORS. Harold Q. S frtdzland. I.

Benjamin R Pun/um BY Donald W. Ruiddlv MWR.W

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 10, 1950 ARTICLE HEATING AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Harold A. Strickland, J r., Grosse Pointe, and Benjamin R. Purvin and Donald W. Riddell, Detroit, Mich., assignors, by mesne assignments, to The Ohio Crankshaft Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 11, 1947, Serial No. 779,372

6 Claims.

This invention relates to article heating and delivery apparatus and has for an object the provisions of improvements in this art.

One of the particular objects of the invention is to feed unit articles along in an improved manner in a plurality of steps and to heat them by a plurality of heating means at a plurality of positions, thus speeding up the heating operation by heating a plurality of articles simultaneously.

Another object is to heat in an improved manner a given portion of an article at a plurality of successive stop positions or stations.

' Another object is to provide improved means for feeding a properly heated article to one'position for working operations and to feed an improperly heated article to another position where it is discarded.

The above and other objects and certain advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, reference being made to'the accompanying drawings thereof, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of apparatus embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevation, partly in section, of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. l, the. view being taken on the line 3-3 on the right side of Fig. 1. but with the feed carriage in returned position;

Figure 4 isa vertical section of the feeding mechanism on the scale shown in Fig. 3, the view being taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the feeding mechanism, the view being an enlargement of a portion of the apparatus seen from the left side of Fig. 1;

Figure 6 is an enlarged rear elevation of the feeding mechanism, the view being taken on the line 6-45 of Fig. 2;

Figure 7 is a vertical section taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 4;

Figure 8 is a horizontal section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 3;

Figure 9 is a vertical elevation partly in section, looking from front to rear, the view being taken on the line 9-9 of Figs. 3 and 10;

Figure 10 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 9;

parts shown in the lower portion of Fig. 21;

Figure 11 is a side elevation, partly in section. of the apparatus shown in Figs. 9'and 10, the view being taken approximately on the line II--- II of Fig. 10;

Figure 12 is an enlarged schematic vertical section taken on line lZ-l! of Fig. 9;

Figure 13 is a section of a detail the view being taken on the line |3l3 of Fig. 12;

Figure 14 is an elevational detail of the article feeding mechanism;

Figure 15 is an elevational detail of the article holding and releasing mechanism at the first heating station;

Figure 16 is an elevatlonal detail of the article holding and releasing mechanism at the second heating station;

Figure 1'1 is an elevational and sectional detail of the article transfer mechanism and related parts;

Figure 18 is a plan view of the article delivery or conveying mechanism, that is, the mechanism for conveying heated articles from the heating position to the forging position;

Figure 19 is a partial plan view similar to Fig. 18 but showing the parts in different positions;

Figure 20 is a plan view similar to Figs. 18 and 19 but showing the parts in an article-rejecting position;

Figure 21 is a side andend perspective view of the article-conveying device;

Figure 22 is a partly exploded perspective view of parts shown in Fig. 21;

Figure 23 is a perspective view of some of Figure 24 is a perspective view of an articlesupporting member shown in Fig. 21; Figure 25 is a perspective view of a tripping mechanism shown in Fig. 20 for causing faulty articles to be rejected, some of the parts associated therewith being shown in phantom lines; Figure 26 is a partial vertical section'taken on the line 26-26 of Fig. 19;

Figure 27 is an operational or flow diagram;

and a a Figure 28 is a schematic wiring diagram.

The machine herein illustrated includes (Fig. 12) an article feeding mechanism R, a vertical guideway, represented by the axis X-X, along which articles, such as headed studs W, feed by gravity, a plurality of heating devices Tl, T2 at the spaced points along the guideway, means for halting articles in each heating position and for releasing them after heating, and conveying means V for taking the heated articles from below the last heating position and moving them (Fig. 18) to a position where they will be processed if they are properly heated, as by the dies Y of a forging machine, or moving them (Fig. 20) to a discard position if they are not properly heated.

The machine is adapted to heat a given portion of an article, in the present case the head of a stud, and the heating is preferably performed by high frequency electrical inductors when the articles are of electromagnetic material, such as iron or steel. The heated condition of the articles may be measured by a light sensitive cell or electric eye and that is employed for choosing whether a properly heated article is conveyed to the forging dies or an improperly heated article is rejected and conveyed to a discard position. The electric eye is here designated by the reference character I (Fig. 9).

The apparatus illustrated is adapted to feed headed studs through succesive heating stations where their heads only are heated and to convey them after heating to a forging machine which forms a socket in the side of the head. The articles when finally finished may be the socket member of a ball and socket joint for an automobile steering gear, the example selected, however, being only for illustration and not limiting as to the scope of application of the invention. The apparatus comprises means associated with the article-delivery apparatus for discarding improperly-heated articles. The improper heating normally ocurs when the machine is first started up but the assurance of safety exists at all times thereby definitely avoiding the breakage of dies.

Without intention of limiting the scope of the invention, the general construction and mode of operation will be described in relation to the specific embodiment illustrated.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the workpieces in the form of headed studs, bolts or the like, are dumped into the hopper 30 of the feeding mecha-- nism R and are picked up and aligned with their heads uppermost by an oscillating feed arm or blade 3| having a trough 32 which, in the raised position (Fig. 4), is aligned with an inclined fixed feed chute 33. Escapement plungers 34, 35 release the lowermost stud from the inclined feed chute 33 into a vertical chute 36. The oscillating feed arm is operated at such speed that the supply of studs in the inclined chute 33 is always adequate 'but it need not be timed with the operation' of the rest of the apparatus. The escapement plungers 34, 35. however, are timed with the operation of the subsequent apparatus to feed one stud for each cycle of movement.

Referring to Fig. 12, it may now be explained that as soon as the workpiece or stud W in the lower heating coil or inductor T2 has been dropped down into the delivery or conveying means V and moved out of the way, a stop member 39 moves back into holding position across the vertical chute line XX. Then an upper stop member 4!] moves out of the vertical chute line, allowing a partly heated stud to drop down on the lower member 39. The member 40 then moves back into operating position and a stud is fed out by the escapement plungers 34, 35 into the vertical chute 36 to drop down upon the upper stop member 40.

It may here be noted that if the conveying 75 means fails to operate properly, the feeding and heating means will be put out of action so that there will not be a pile-up of studs in the ver tical chute along the heating line X-X and so no articles will be heated 'to a molten state. The stops 39 and 40 hold the heads of studs W accurately in heating position in the inductors T2 and Ti respectively, and except for shift periods. studs are being heated simultaneously in both the inductors.

Referring to Fig. 2, the feeding arm 3| is operated by a feed motor MI through a reduction gear device 42. The feeding mechanism may be oper ated continuously and without connection with the heating and transfer mechanism. The remaining mechanism is operated by a motor M2 through a Graham gear drive device 43 which provides selective speed adjustment. The motor M2 and the selective drive device 43 actuate a cam shaft 45 which operates certain mechanism and times the action of the remaining apparatus.

Still referring to Fig. 2, the conveying means V includes a carriage. attached to a piston rod 41 which is actuated by a piston (not shown) in a cylinder 48. The carriage has mounted thereon a pair of gripper feed jaws 49, 5B which grasp a stud W (Fig. 12) at the bottom of the vertical chute along the line XX and carry it to the dies Y of a forging machine. That is, the feed jaws will take the stud to the forging dies if its head has been properly heated; but if the head has not been properly heated, the carriage and jaws are intercepted by discard or rejecting mechanism located alongside their path of travel and are caused to discard the stud instead of conveying it to the forging dies. The rejecting mechanism is omitted from Fig. 2 for clarity but it is shown in detail in Figs. 18 to 25. It is controlled by an electric eye I, Figs. 17 and 20, which is directed at the stud head in its dropped position on the carriage. If the stud is properly heated, the electric eye energizes a solenoid 52 which causes certain tripping mechanism to be withdrawn from the path of the carriage and jaws, but if the stud has not been properly heated, the electric eye will not energize the tripperwithdrawing solenoid and the tripping mechanism will intercept the carriage and jaws to cause the stud to be moved to one side and dropped, as into a scrap can or chute (not shown).

As shown in Figs. 17, 18, 19, and 26 the feed jaws 49, 50 are pivoted at 54, 55 respectively, and have rearwardly extending arms 56, 51 which are urged apart by a spring 58. The arms 56, 51 carry cam rollers 59 which in the rearward position of the carriage 46, engage spaced rigid but adjustable cams 60 which spread the jaws apart slightly to allow the stem of a stud to drop .9 down between them. Immediately below the feed spring-pressed plungers jaws, there is disposed a stop plunger 6| which is normally pushed out as far as its stops permit by a spring 62 and this plunger underlies the lower end of a stud when it drops down.

Beneath the lower inductor T2 and above the feed jaws when in rearward stud-receiving position, there is disposed a pair of stud-positioning guides 55, 66 which are pivoted on fixed journal pins 67 and are urged toward each other by 68. At the proper time the guides 65, 66 are spread apart to allow a stud to be moved out from between them, the spreading of the guides being eil'ected by a wedge cam plunger 69 which is pushed between spaced cam rollers 70 on the sides of the guides.

Means are provided for opening the feed jaws 49, 58 when they are in die-feeding position and also when they are in the stud-discarding position, but before explaining this, it will be helpful to understand something more of the carriage mechanism.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the carriage slides along a guide bar I5 which, as shown in Fig. 12, is of rectangular shape to prevent turning movement of the carriage. As shown in Fig. 1'1, the carriage 48 is provided with an upstanding projection 18 through which a reduced end 11 of the iston rod 41 passes, the rod being secured to the projection by a nut I8 and a cooperating lock washer. An upstanding overhanging support 88 is secured to the carriage, as by cap screws 8|, and in this support 88 there is mounted a vertical journal pin 82.

As seen in Figs. 21 and 22, a laterally swingable jaw mount is turnably mounted on the pin 82, the mount comprising a lower plate 88, located beneath the overhanging support 88 and an upper plate 84, located above the support, the pivot pin 82 extending through the plates 88 and 84. The pivot pins 54, 55 of the jaws connect the plates 83, 84, suitable locking rings 85 fitting in annular grooves in the pins to hold the parts together. The upper plate 84 has a side lug or stop 88 against which the side of the jaw 58 engages to limit its inward position. The support 88 has a side lug or stop 81 against which the side of the jaw 58 engages to limit its inward position. The support 88 also has a side stop 88 against which the side of the jaw 48 engages to limit its sidewise movement in stud-discarding position, as shown in Fig. 20. Still referring to Fig. 28 and also to Fig. 26, a spring-pressed jaw-mount return plunger 88 is shown to be mounted in a bore in a block 8| which is bolted upon the carriage 48, the same block mounting the stop plunger 5| previously described. The block 8| is shown more clearly in Fig. 21 and is separately illustrated in Fig. 24. The plunger 88 engages the lower plate 83 on one side of its pivot center on pin 82 and urges it back to a central position.

Now it may be observed that since the plunger 98 urges the plate 83 of the jawmount to central position and since the upper plate 84 of the mount presses the jaw 48 sidewise through its stop 88, and further, since sidewise pressure on jaw 49 is transmitted to the other jaw 58 through the mutual coil spring 58, the final result is to force jaw 58 against the fixed stop 81 of the support 88. This brings the parts back to central position with the jaws ready to receive aheated stud on the line X-X when the carriage moves back.

The normal operation of the carriage 48 and feed jaws 48, 58 may now be clearly followed by reference to Figs 18 and 19. The jaws are spread apart slightly by cams 68 when the carriage is in its rearmost position and a workpiece or stud W drops down between the jaws 48, 58 and comes to rest'on the stop plunger 8| when the stop pin 38 is withdrawn from the line X-X. The positioning guides 65, 88 direct the stud into the jaws 49, 58 and hold it in upright position. Timed cam means, later to be described, now operates a switch SI (Fig. 9) which causes motive fluid to be supplied to the head end of power cylinder 48 and to exhaust fluid from the rod end of the cylinder to push out the rod 41 and move the carriage V and jaws 48, 58 to the forging dies Y. At'about the time the jaws 48, 58 are ready to move out the wedge cam plunger 88 opens the 6 guides 85, 55 to allow the stud to be moved out from between them. As soon as the laws 48, 88 begin to move, their rollers 58 leave the earns 88 and the jaws grip the shank of the stud which they carry.

when the stud reaches the forging dies Y it is disposed on its own center line of movement but at one side of the vertical axis of the arcuate cavity 84 of a fixed die Y. A switch actuator on the carriage actuates a switch S2 to cause a movable element of dies Y to move toward the fixed die element and by its cavity 98 carry the stem of the stud into the cavity 84 of the fixed die element. The jaws 48, 58 are below the forming portions of the dies so no obstruction exists. As shown in Fig. 19, the movement of the stud by the movable die element forces the jaws 48, 58 sidewise as much as required. When the carriage is moved back, the jaws yield to pull off the stud which by this time has been firmly engaged by the dies Y. Actuation of a switch S8 by the cam 81 of the movable die element causes the carriage to be moved back by causing motive fluid to be supplied to the rod end of the cylinder and spent fluid to be exhausted from the head end.

On the return stroke of the carriage and just before it engages its end stop, an adjustable stud I88 carried on the rear end of the carriage actuates a safety switch S4 which assures continued operation of the machine. If switch S4 is not actuated when a certain cam shaft actuated switch is opened, the entire feeding, heating and conveying apparatus is shut down. The proper return of the carriage is thus made a condition precedent to the continued operation of the apparatus and no stud is fed down to interfere with the movement of the carriage when it does return.

As shown in .Fig. 26, when the carriage 45 reaches the outer end of its stroke, the studsupporting plunger GI strikes a stop IN on a part I82 of the forging dies Y and is pushed back against its spring, the jaws 48, 58 meantime pushing the workpiece or stud W upon ahorizontal surface I88 of part I82 to place it in exactly correct vertical position in the dies. The surface I83 at its front edge is bevelled slightly to avoid obstruction to the movement of the stud. A side-acting plunger I84 enters an opening between the main dies and forms a sideopening socket in-the hot head of the stud, in this action causing the metal of the stud head to flow and fill the die cavity.

So far, it has been assumed that the stud heads were properly heated and that the carriage moved to the forging dies and returned in normal fashion, the electric eye I causing the solenoid 52 to be energized to withdraw the trip mechanism from the path of the carriage so it could move without interruption to the dies. The mechanism and method of operation by which an improperly heated stud is discarded will now be described Referring to Fig. 18, it may be seen that when the solenoid 52 is energized, it retracts its plunger I8'I against a spring I88 which is attached at its outer end to a fixed anchorage I88. A gate or trippcr H8 is swingably mounted on a journal pin I I I carried by a fixed bracket I I2, the tripper being urged away from tripping position by a spring I I8 which is much lighter than spring I88. The outer end of spring H3 is secured to a fixed stud H4.

The tripper III is pushed out into tripping position by a cam roller II I carried by a sector the sector II8 to the solenoid plunger I01, pivot pins I23 and I24 connecting the link to the plunger and sector respectively. The spring I08 at its inner end is attached to the pin I24.

The tripper has two surfaces which are adapted to cooperate with parts on the carriage, one being an abrupt stop surface I21 which is adapted to be engaged by a stop member I28 secured to the side of the carriage and the other being a cam surface I29 which is adapted to be engaged by a cam roller I30 on a cam arm I3I of the lower plate 83 of the jaw mount.

As shown in Fig. 20, when the abrupt surface I21 of the tripper is engaged by the stop member I28, the outward movement of the carriage is halted against the yielding pressure of motive fluid in the power cylinder 48. The bracket plate H2 is mounted on a resilient pad 2:1 to yield slightly also to ease shock. Shortly before the carriage is stopped, the cam roller I30 rides up on the cam surface I 3| to swing the jaw mount around its journal pin 82 to carry both Jaws to one side. The jaw 49 is halted by the fixed stop 88 but the other jaw 50 is moved out further yet by the side lug 86 of the upper mount plate 84 and is thus separated from the jaw 49 to allow the stud W to fall clear of the jaws.

The jaw 50 actuates a switch S which has a function similar to that of switch S3, previously described, and causes the carriage to be returned to its rearward position. During this movement the plunger 90 causes the jaw mount and jaws to return to central position, as previously described.

When the solenoid 52 is energized by the electric eye I, its plunger I01 is held out by any suitable means such, for example, as relay lock means in the circuit later to be described. Actuation of the switch S4 when the carriage reaches the rear end of its stroke releases the relay and the solenoid 52. Thus it is provided that the tripping mechanism, once it is pulled clear by the electric eye, is kept clear for the full trip of the carriage to the dies Y and return.

Other means may be provided to give further assurance that the tripping device is clear of the path of the carriage when it returns, in case the solenoid 52 may have been accidentally released. This means may comprise a switch S6 and cam I39 operated by the carriage to cause the solenoid plunger to withdraw or may be camming means between the carriage and tripping device to throw the latter out of the way. The cam shown for operating the switch may be considered to be also the type used if it actuates the tripping device directly.

Having now followed the workpieces through the machine and having noted the details of apparatus which intimately concerned their treatment, it will be helpful to understand the details of the apparatus which produces the operation, as well as of that which forms mechanical support for the active parts.

As shown in Fig. 3, the oscillating stud-feed arm 3| is pivoted upon a journal pin I40, which journal pin, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, is mounted in a bracket I4I secured to one side of the hopper 30. The hopper is supported by a pedestal I42 which is also secured to the side on which the arm 3| is hinged. The hopper 30 consists of two parts, as shown in Fig. 8, and these parts are spaced apart by the chute 33, previously noted,

at the bottom in and a spacer I43. Bolts I44 hold the parts of the h pper together. The spacing between the parts of the hopper is such as to leave an opening I45 which the arm or blade 3| operates.

The arm or blade 3i, as shown in Figs. 4, 7 and 8, comprises two spaced sector-shaped plates I46 which are held in proper position by spacers I41 and bolts I48. The plates are sufliciently wide to keep the hopper opening closed on'the sides at all times so that the movable trough 32 can move down to the bottom of the hopper without obstruction and pick up and align studs as it cams Cl, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 and CT.

moves back up. The plates are attached at the bottom to the body piece I40 01 the arm, the part which is journaled on the pin I40, and this body piece is provided with a cam slot I50 within which moves a cylindrical or roller cam I5I car ried by a cam arm I52 supported by the rotatable cam shaft I53 of the speed reduction gear 42 previously described. The upper position of the feed arm or blade is shown in Fig. 4 in full lines and the lower position'in dotted lines. Th motor MI and feed arm are allowed to operate continuously except when the machine is completely shut down because it cannot feed too many studs and its continued operation can do no harm.

The feed chute 33 comprises spaced members I55, Fig. 8, which are carried between spaced plates I56 which are secured to the hopper 30 by bolts I51. Spacers I58 and bolts I59 hold the parts together. Cover members I60, held by bolts I6I, keep the studs from getting out of proper feeding position. Bolts I62 secure the chute members I55 to the plates I56.

A stud guide I63, comprising a support ring and a plurality of downwardly extending fingers, is secured to the bottom of the vertical chute 36. The vertical chute is formed as an extension of the inclined chute 33.

Means are provided for pushing back into the hopper any improperly disposed studs which may be left on the upper end of the chute 33. This means here comprises a pusher rod I65 which is slidably mounted in a guide piece I66. The rod is pushed out by a tappet I61 secured to an arm I68 carried by the feed arm 3| and turnable about the journal pin I40. The rod is returned by a spring I69 attached at one end to a fixed stud I10 and at the other end to a set screw "I of a collar I12 which is adjustably secured to the rod I65 by the same set screw I1 I.

The cam shaft 45 is shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 to be mounted in bearing brackets I15 carried by a base frame I16. Adjacent the shaft 45 and parallel therewith, a rocker shaft I11 is mounted on brackets I18 secured to the base frame I16. On the cam shaft 45 there are mounted a plurality of Cams CI and C4 operate switches SP and SI respectively. Cams C2, C3, C5, C8 and C1 respectively, operate cam followers F2, F3, F5, F6 and F1 mounted respectively on cam rock arms I8I, I82, I83, I84 and I85 which are oscillatably mounted on the rocker shaft I11. The cam rock arms are integral with hubs journaled on the rocker shaft and each has associated with it a rock arm, designated by the same number with the suffix a, so that the hub and the two arms of each set. constitute in effect a'lever for producing operation of some part from its associated cam. Springs urge the cam rock arms toward their respective cams.

As shown in Figs. 9-11 and Figs. 6, 13 and 14, the cams C3, C6, followers F8, F6, arms I02, "2a and I84, I84a operate-rods I81, I88 respectively, 

